Council members to consider increasing their pay

SANTA CRUZ -- After forgoing a salary increase for six years, Santa Cruz City Council members will consider Tuesday whether to take a pay increase as high as 49 percent more than their current wages.

The council could set annual salaries at nearly $25,000 for its six part-time members and nearly $50,000 for the mayor, a position that revolves between council members each year but requires a greater commitment. Those rates reflect the maximum authorized by a City Charter formula for 2014.

Presently, council members are paid $16,700 and the mayor earns $33,500, salaries that reflect 2008 rates less 10 percent. The council could choose no raise at all or make a moderate adjustment.

Assistant Manager Tina Shull said the city is considering increases now because the economy is recovering from a recession that began in 2008. City labor groups that faced furloughs, pay freezes and layoffs in recent years received bonuses, temporary pay increases or a combination of benefits in 2013 as part of transitional contracts that expire in 2015.

"We have an improved economic condition, and we were able to improve employee situations a bit," Shull said.

Santa Cruz Mayor Lynn Robinson said, "It is long overdue that we look at (pay) because it is so far in arrears." But she said she hasn't decided whether she will support a raise.

Councilwoman Pamela Comstock said she is not in favor.

"I don't think the council has any business considering a raise until after all labor negotiations are settled," she said.

Santa Cruz voters decided in 1998 to double pay for council members and the mayor, setting salaries at $12,000 and $24,000, respectively. Voters agreed to let council members increase their pay up to 5 percent annually, but the council did not adjust its pay for the next decade.

In 2008, the council approved a 55 percent pay increase but shaved 10 percent out of respect for other city budget cuts. Although the council increased its pay again in 2010, members didn't actually take the raise and kept their pay at the 2008 level less 10 percent.

In addition to their pay, council members receive full health coverage and pension contributions. Santa Cruz also provides a vehicle allowance of $350 month to council members and are given a free parking pass to use in metered spaces and garages.

Council members in Watsonville, a city with a similar population but a much smaller budget, receive $4,800 annually. The mayor earns $6,000. In Monterey, which has half the population of Santa Cruz, council members earn $5,160 annually and the mayor makes $8,112.

Santa Cruz isn't the only municipality to weigh a pay increase for top decision makers recently. The county Board of Supervisors narrowly voted in November to increase their pay 10 percent after having no raise for five years.

In other action, the council is scheduled to review the $7.5 million sale of surplus property in Scotts Valley to the development arm of Safeway for that city's long-awaited Town Center project. The council also will review options for what to do with bicycles that become surplus city property after they are abandoned or go unclaimed.